


The Devastating Pumpkinn Ambush.

by Mdameme69



Category: The Lord of the Rings Online
Genre: Animal Death, F/F, Mild Blood, Minor Violence, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 15:20:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19832947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mdameme69/pseuds/Mdameme69
Summary: ((A sort of self indulgent story I've always wanted to write for Lord of the Rings Online. I don't own the game of course, just writing for fun.))Aevaa, Elanor and their companion Simeon are questing while on horseback until Simeon suddenly suggests the group rest within the Old Forest. Reluctantly the two women of the group agree, and are soon after ambushed by rangers. What follows is a short tale of their survival and bond.





	The Devastating Pumpkinn Ambush.

“Aevaa..” 

“Aevaa, wake up..” uttered Elanor as Aevaa had been resting her head back onto the elf’s shoulder. They had been trotting on horseback for hours now alongside a fellow acquaintance of Aevaa’s, Simeon. 

Suddenly bringing his steed to a halt just ahead of them, Simeon rummaged through his bag, pulling out a map of the area. Elanor then slowly bringing her sunflower-clad steed to a halt, watched as Aevaa gently opened her eyes. 

“Why have we halted?” Elanor asked softly, as not to disturb the awakening human in her grasp.

Simeon, still reading his map, ignored the elf.

“..I’ve been asleep?” Aevaa hesitantly wondered aloud, slowly raising up from Elanor’s shoulders. Elanor had her arms locked around Aevaa’s torso, speaking quietly.

“Don’t worry, I held tightly onto you. You looked as if you were dreaming.” 

Aevaa very drowsily looked into the deep green forest trees they had stopped around. Seemed to be a thick forest of oak trees as far as the eye could see. 

“I dreamt, but I can hardly recall. Almost feels as if it was a sorrowful dream..” Aevaa continued, squinting as the brightness of the forest helped sober her from slumber. 

“No time for dreaming I’m afraid.” Elanor playfully chided. 

“We out-to make haste if we are to reach Esteldín in due time. Why again Simeon are we stopped?” 

“With all due respect ‘Friend of Bree’ Elanor, Aevaa hasn’t eaten in far too long don’t you think?” Simeon answered, not too respectfully as the elf has always hated his sarcastic use of her known title. Aevaa sat up, wiping her eyes.

“I’m alright, Simeon. I’ve prepared for this journey, I’m rather ready to continue onwards.” Aevaa gently urged. 

Simeon, seemingly distressed turned and faced the women behind him. 

“Why don’t you peer into your bag, we hardly have rations. This could be a good location for potatoes and herbs. Why not rest and stock up on food?” Simeon continued to nag. Aevaa and Elanor equally glanced at each other, knowingly with a smile while raising Simeon a thumbs up. Although as Elanor dismounted, she did recall a rather full bag of potatoes before Aevaa confirmed the bag to be near empty. 

Guiding the steed forwards, Elanor tied it’s lead around the trunk of a sturdy tree, rubbing very gently it’s face while feeding the steed a handful of fruit from within her own bag of feed. Aevaa by now had dismounted as well, although falling to the ground more loudly than Elanor. 

Aevaa stretched her arms above her head, taking deep breaths while looking around the forest. 

“Simeon, do you know which forest this is?” Aevaa wondered as she brought out an old book from the steed’s various pouches. She read through it, taking off a rather thick royal blue glove to flip the pages delicately. 

“Ah..I believe we’re within the Forlorn Glade.” Simeon answered, still mounted while looking ahead.

“The Old Forest huh. We out to beware the tree’s then.. keep an eye on any roots you see, they tend to reach around here.” Aevaa explained, skimming over a quick passage on the forest. For a moment she froze, wondering why Simeon would ever consider a forest such as this to be a good place to scrounge for food. If the forest itself is known to be the danger, why should they consume anything growing within it’s rough patches of brush.

“This forest is plentiful in fruits, vegetables, and animals. We should be able to find small patches of water too if we look diligently enough.” Simeon continued, although unused to implying he’d help with anything. 

Elanor turned around to face the forest once more. Where they were standing was firm, a solid mix of soil and rock, but to the left was a steep downward hill that lead further into the forest. The climb back up seemed tedious so Elanor first thought to head rightwards since the forest in that direction was mostly flat and easy to explore. 

In case they ran into any sort of malicious branches, Aevaa reached into a cage tied to the back of the steed, pulling out an eager amber and white eagle. The bird stood on her arm as she ran her fingers down its feathers. “Good morning, Pumpkinn,” she whispered to the bird, kissing it’s head as the bird stretched out its wings. Elanor watched as Aevaa continued to pet the bird, before bringing her gaze back to the right side of the forest, vaguely noticing movement from within the tree’s up ahead. 

Elanor froze, looking deep within the trees. Simeon had noticed too what Elanor had seen.

“.. Aevaa.” 

Elanor briefly uttered, but by the time the words fell from the elf’s lips, she spotted about a hundred yards away what seemed to be a figure. 

Quickly turning around to face Aevaa, Elanor watched as seemingly instantaneously an arrow shot towards her before quickly being intercepted by her vigilant eagle, snapping backwards by the force of the arrow impaling it’s torso. 

Aevaa, who had kept her eye on the bird alone, watched in horror as it called out and launched far behind her, tumbling down the steep forest hill. 

“AEVAA!!” Elanor screamed, standing in front of the dazed human. 

Glancing over to the side for only a second, it seemed as if Simeon had rode off in the conflict. She snapped her attention back forwards, drawing out the longbow she had hilted to her back. 

From the far right treeline walked out three men, quickly approaching the women with weapons in hand. As one rather short man had stretched out his bow once more, Elanor gazed deep into the man’s eyes and roared a frightening scream, a true champion’s challenge as the man’s attention was forcefully brought onto herself. He took the shot with an unprepared aim.

The arrow had whizzed by Elanor’s head, but the journey-woman did not flinch. Instead Elanor had pulled back her bow, taking a shot at the short marksmen. In such a panic, her accuracy had nailed the ranger from afar, setting the two men in a rage as they ambushed.

Aevaa, who had been frozen in shock, subconsciously freed herself from her impairing state by shaking her head quickly, envisioning a cleaver escape. She screamed for Elanor, but as the men approached, she took a step back, partially slipping on the soil before the steep hill.

“Go!!” Elanor had grunted, clashing her sword against another man’s sword. 

“Find the bird, it’s not too late to save it!!” 

“Aevaa get out of here!” Elanor screamed, landing a savage strike as her sword struck the man twice. These men were dangerous, but a good fight seemed to hold them back well enough.

Aevaa by now looked forward to see the second man charging at her, and in a panic she fled down the hillside, rolling against the soil and brush until she could pick herself back up and hide behind the trunk of a large oak. 

The man stood at the top of the hill, peering deep into the woods, mockingly calling out for the lore-master to reveal herself. 

He spoke in a familiar tongue, like fellow men from Bree-Town as Aevaa had recognized. She couldn’t breathe as her heart had pumped out of her chest, she was so terrified even now she couldn’t see much around her. As desperate as she was to find her eagle, her vision tunneled and the threat of the man above outweighed her desire to search for her beloved companion. 

The man decided to pursue her, stumbling down the hillside, sliding around in the mush of soil and leaves while for the most part staying upright although in his attempt to ambush Aevaa, creating lots of noise very telling of his location.

She stayed silent and still, waiting for the moment he’d step too far into her line of sight and when the moment came she reached her fingertips outward and envisioned the light of the rising dawn, a stun-spell. 

The man, now in noticing her, suddenly let out a cry as his vision flashed white, blinding him for a moment as his eyes burned. Holding his face in agony, it felt as if the impact was slowly draining his health. He let out as many curses as he could think of, but Aevaa used the opportunity to crawl back up the hillside, kneading deep into the mud with every step.

The spell had saved her about thirty seconds to flee, and by the time the man could vaguely see again, Aevaa had thrown another stun at him, a less powerful bane flare that lasted about fifteen seconds more. It was all the time she needed to see the surface once more, as Elanor had been fighting two more men, different than before. She leapt onto the firm soil and stumbled her way to the staff that had been tied down to the frightened sunflower steed. 

Turning her attention back onto the man in the forest below, she stood upright and raised her staff into the air. For the blinded man bellow he could only hear a sort of static in the air as she called upon a mighty lightning strike, stabbing her staff back onto the ground in a mighty pound. 

He had recoiled in shock, collapsing to the ground as she stuck her arm out once more, launching a burning pitch of fire down the hillside. 

It struck with a mighty blow, scorching the man further and further as he could no longer flee the area on fire. 

Soon his cries fell quiet and the crackling of the fire rubbed out, the area only contained the man sitting still on the forest floor. Aevaa then pried her attention away from the charred man, back onto Elanor in terror as she had been sword fighting on her own.

Elanor had been using up all her strength to deal as much damage as she could, brutally striking a man three times before he could evade. By now two bodies had laid at her feet, but with the last man saving his energy for when she’d become the most exhausted, she couldn’t muster the remaining energy to fight on. 

Her face was full of sweat, dirt and blood although unclear of who’s blood it had been. Her heavy armor had begun to weigh her down the more she swung, and as her blows began to sting less and less the final man took advantage of her pause as she took only a second to breathe, lunging a kick at her chest while knocking the air out of her as she rolled onto the soil. 

Aevaa in a panic had unleashed another blinding flash onto the man, blinding him too for thirty seconds as she turned all her remaining attention to Elanor who had begun to lay stuck in the mud.

In this limited time, Aevaa queued as many spells as she could muster the strength of summoning one after another, targeting Elanor. 

First, casting a sign of power onto Elanor, allowing her to be immune to stuns for about the remainder of the fight. Elanor then painfully arose to her feet once more as Aevaa thrust her chest outwards giving her a boost of morale, while secondly transferring her own morale into Elanor. 

Elanor was quickly coming back to as her vision filled with a familiar green. She smiled ever so softly, as she always recognized the color that clung to the air around her. She had always seen green with Aevaa near. 

Elanor by now was lining up the shot, as seconds of the stun were coming to an end and with one final spell, Aevaa transferred the remaining power she had left in her bones into Elanor as she then struck the man with a final devastating strike. 

The resilience of the man was impeccable, but as Elanor now had the remaining strength to engage the tide, she thrust her sword forward into the man, never faltering, and braced while finished the battle with a remorseless strike. 

Slowly, he collapsed with the others by her feet and for a moment she just stood there, in silence. Her armor now coated in dirt, blood and muck. Elanor hadn’t noticed but she had been shaking. 

Aevaa, who had now been on the ground gasping for air in exhaustion, frantically looked around. No more men seemed to appear from the treeline. The ambush was over. 

Elanor finally turned around to see Aevaa in a sobbing heap, running to her instantly, she grabbed Aevaa by the arms.

“..Aevaa!” Elanor called out.

“Aevaa, the bird!!” 

“Where is your bird?!” Elanor shouted in panic. Aevaa couldn’t bring herself to think about the state of her poor eagle. It had to have been too late, there’s no way the bird could be saved now, Aevaa couldn’t even look Elanor in the eye she knew it had been too late.

“Aevaa, we still could have time! Who knows if it’s bled out already, it could be inches from death, we have to try Aevaa!! Get up!” The elf sprung Aevaa to her feet. As overwhelmed as she was, Aevaa managed to stumble towards the hillside again, flinching at the smell of the burnt man bellow. 

Elanor searched and searched the brush, until seemingly spotting the shot bird in the distance, just under an oak tree. 

Pulling Aevaa along, they ran down the hillside, sinking into the mud and rolling once more. Elanor who’s heavy armor weighed her down, continued to drag Aevaa forwards in hopes her beloved pet wasn’t dead. As little as Elanor knew of Aevaa’s craft as a lore-master, all she understood was that anything could be healed, but once something dies it’s over. Aevaa couldn’t heal the dead, she could only help preserve the living. 

As they finally stepped onto what felt as firm soil again, they sprinted forwards towards the sorrowful bird who laid in a pile of leaves from underneath a large oak.

Aevaa reached out and held the bird in her arms as she collapsed. 

As she had known, it was too late for Pumpkinn, the bird had taken its last breath long ago in order to protect its master like it had been trained to do.

The poor thing had laid in a pool of its own blood before being found, it certainly bleed to death. For once, all was quiet again. Not even the ambience of the forest chirped, all sounds seemed to dissipate completely around the hopeless women as they sat there with the bird.

Aevaa couldn’t move, only petting the bird once more in her lap. She had been sobbing, finally choking as it became more and more clear she was too late. Her dear friend was gone, but in its demise it had successfully protected her, Aevaa was unharmed in the end. 

Elanor had kneeled down beside Aevaa, biting her lip as she placed a hand on Aevaa’s shoulder, and in a desperate reach Aevaa had pulled her down, crying into her chest.  
The girls in a longing embrace, mourned for the loss of Aevaa’s companion. 

Even though Elanor barely knew the bird, she still shed a tear as she could feel how much of a loss it was for Aevaa. She had been the most kindhearted human Elanor had ever known. The will of men is fragile, and a loss such as this easily weighs heavily down on what little hope she has.

“I-”

“I was so scared..” Aevaa cried.

“I couldn’t tell where my baby landed..” She gasped, 

“I was terrified if I took too long, I’d have to choose between my bird.. And you..” She continued to sob, as Elanor ran her fingers through her hair.

Elanor sighed, as fully formed tears ran down her chin. She was heartbroken for the human.

“It’s alright, Aevaa. It’s alright now. You saved me at least, the battle is not lost.” Elanor whispered into her ear, gently kissing her head. 

For what seemed like hours they laid in the soil of the Forlorn Glade, until Aevaa felt compelled to rise once more. 

She stumbled over to the oak tree the bird had died in front of, and begun to dig into the soil with her gloved hand, deep enough into the soft earth. As she dug, Elanor stood up and pulled from behind her a small dagger, carving into the tree above the bird’s silly name. 

Once a large enough hole was dug, Elanor and Aevaa lowered the pitiful bird inside after removing the arrow. Quickly grabbing any sort of leaves and flowers around them, they covered the pet in as much nature as they could before burying it.

Eventually gaining the strength to stand once more, Aevaa looked down upon the sight and arranged a circle of stones before finally stumbling back. 

“..We.”

“We should keep moving.” Aevaa uttered, still with her eyes fixated on the grave.

Elanor nodded silently, turning around slowly before suddenly making eye contact with a man who had been watching them from afar the hilltop. 

Whatever sorrow she had in her heart, suddenly filled with rage as a sudden suspicion filled her mind. 

Simeon stood atop the hill, looking down at the women. Although unspotable with a man’s eye, Elanor could see clear as day the smile on his face turned into a frown as she had noticed him.


End file.
